TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Zynga acquires Rollic; Nintendo profit up by 428%; Big Run Studios raises USD$5.25m (£4.00m); and Venatus partners with Frameplay. Zynga acquires Rollic Mobile gaming giant Zynga has announced that it has entered the hyper-casual market with the acquisition of Istanbul-based developer-publisher Rollic for a minimum cash consideration of USD$168m (£128m). As well as growing its audience by the measure of around 65 million monthly active users (MAUs), Zynga [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Mission Control raises USD$1.75m (£1.38m); Riot Games centralises League of Legends esports; and Voltage Entertainment USA workers take strike action. Mission Control raises USD$1.75m (£1.38m) Recreational league esports platform Mission Control has announced that it has closed a USD$1.75m (£1.38m) seed funding round led by Dundee Venture Partners and supported by M25, Cultivation Capital, and MATH Venture Partners. The investment will be used by the St. Louis, Missouri-based [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Nazara buys majority stake in Paper Boat Apps; tinyBuild acqui-hires Hello Neighbor team; and Carbonated raises USD$8.5m (£6.8m). Nazara buys majority stake in Paper Boat Apps Mobile games company Nazara Technologies has completed the purchase of a 51% stake in educational game developer Paper Boat Apps, best known for its Kiddopia title, for a total consideration of INR₹830m (£8.80m). Nazara completed the purchase of its fellow Mumbai-based developer [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Sony to double PlayStation 5 production; Nifty Games opens Chicago studio; and Darewise Entertainment raises €3m (£2.7m). Sony to double PlayStation 5 production Sony Corp. has informed its manufacturing and logistics partners that it intends to double production of its PlayStation 5 console from approximately five to six million units by March 2021 to ten million devices by the close of the year, in response to increased consumer [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Three Ubisoft executives stand down; FitXR secures USD$7.5m (£5.9m); and Athlane raises USD$3.3m (£2.6m). Three Ubisoft executives stand down Three senior Ubisoft executives have resigned following allegations of misconduct, sexual harassment, and abusive behaviour at the Montreuil-sous-Bois-based developer-publisher. Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoët and Ubisoft Canada CEO Yannis Mallat have both stepped down with immediate effect, while Global Head of HR Cécile Cornet has resigned citing that it [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: AT&T mulls USD$4bn (£3.2bn) Warner Bros. gaming sale; Nazara acquires majority stake in Halaplay; Aiva Technologies raises €1.5m (£1.3m); and Kahoot raises USD$28m (£22m). AT&T mulls USD$4bn (£3.2bn) Warner Bros. gaming sale AT&T is considering selling its Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment video games division as part of its ongoing asset divestment strategy, as it looks to clear its debt portfolio which current stands at approximately USD$165bn (£132bn). According [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Homa Games partners with IRL Team; LootLocker raises SEK2.4m (£201,000); and Paradox Interactive opens new Barcelona studio. Homa Games partners with IRL Team Homa Games has joined forces with indie idle game studio IRL Team, with the aim of expanding its capabilities across mobile development and publishing. The three-strong staff at IRL Team have been hired by Homa Games but will continue to operate IRL Team out of [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Nvidia GeForce NOW pivots to opt-in model; Carry1st raises USD$2.5m (£2.0m); and TeamSpeak partners with Activision Blizzard. Nvidia GeForce NOW pivots to opt-in model Nvidia have announced that developers and publishers will now have to opt-in to listing their titles on its GeForce NOW cloud gaming service, as opposed to requesting the removal of IP if they do not want it to be playable on the platform. The [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: XR to generate USD$6.3bn (£5.1bn) in 2020; Raven raises USD$1.4m (£1.1m); and demand for Chinese localisation falls. XR to generate USD$6.3bn (£5.1bn) in 2020 The global extended reality (XR) hardware and software market is expected to generate revenue of USD$6.3bn (£5.1bn) in 2020, according to projections released by SuperData. This figure is a downward revision from the USD$7.7bn (£6.2bn) estimate published in January this year by the Nielsen-owned [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: ESRB introduces loot box labelling; Kumu raises USD$5m (£4m); and Mighty Jaxx raises SGD$4.5m (£2.5m). ESRB introduces loot box labelling The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has introduced a new interactive labelling element to its rating system, designed to indicate when a game incorporates randomised elements to in-game purchases. While the new designation, which will assign the “In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)” label to the appropriate titles, is [...]